BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) – A close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico beat a pro-Western career diplomat to become Slovakia’s new president, and succeed Zuzana Caputová, the country’s first female head of state.
Parliamentary speaker Peter Pellegrini received 53.26% of the vote with the ballots from almost all polling stations counted by the Statistics Office in Saturday´s runoff election, topping former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok who had 46.73%.
“I can promise I will be a president of all Slovak citizens,” Pellegrini said. “I can promise I’ll be always by the side of Slovakia.”
Pellegrini becomes Slovakia’s sixth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
Caputová, a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia´s invasion, didn’t seek a second term in the largely…
